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House and Senate Democratic leaders will likely bypass the traditional joint conference for reconciling legislation and instead hold informal talks through most of January to work out the differences between the two bodies' bills. The last big sticking point is how to pay for reform.

While many politicians trumpet the increased insurance coverage in the health-reform legislation, the bill the Senate will soon vote on still leaves 23 million uninsured. What's more, neither the Senate nor the House version of the reform takes effect before 2013, leaving many uninsured without relief for years.

Why is public support falling? People are confused by all the rhetoric, shocked by the huge price tag and scared that the proposed changes will only make the situation worse. Yet it's not too late for Congress to come together and improve a system that isn't working now.